True Monsters
by The-Lady-Smaell
Summary: Bruce and Pepper are kidnapped, things go downhill front there. PLEASE HEED WARNINGS INSIDE. (Written in response to a prompt by Kweandee )


A/N: I am so SO SORRY about this. My brain just kinda vomited.

WARNINGS PLEASE TAKE NOTE:

Implied sexual assault. Graphic depictions of torture. Dark Themes. Dark!Bruce. Dark!Pepper. Bruce unleashes his crazy.

True Monsters

Bruce woke up tied to a chair.

It wasn't the first time this had happened but it was the first time since the Avengers had formed and he ground his teeth in frustration and anger. There was an odd silence in the back of his mind as the emotions flowed through him which caused Bruce grimace, clearly his captor had done him homework and stuck him with a gamma suppression agent.

Just _fucking_ great.

Ignoring the itch on his neck he began to sort through his hazy memories; he'd been at a conference with Pepper... His mind stuttered to a halt. _Pepper_. _Pepper had been with him, oh hell. _He remembered getting into the limousine with her, laughing softly at her disgruntled expression because she hadn't understood diddly-squat of what had been said at the conference and how that look had melted into a warm, soft smile as he thanked her, genuinely thanked her for accompanying him.

And then... Nothing.

He cursed under his breath for his complacency, he never would have been caught in so obvious a trap previously but he'd been spoiled living in the tower with Tony and Pepper and his survival sense had clearly dulled. Bruce was drawn from his thoughts as the sound of metal grating on concrete echoed through the room and he strained trying to turn around only to feel a cool, gloved hand on the back of his neck.

"I would cease struggling Doctor Banner, the effort is truly not worth it." The owner of the hand said with a cool malevolence in his voice.

Bruce bit the inside of his cheek at the voice wishing with the intensity of a thousand suns that the man would shrivel and die already.

"What do you want?"

The man laughed soft and low, his hand sliding up into the physicist's hair and pulling hard, jerking Bruce's head back.

"Always perceptive aren't you Doctor but you're right; let's not waste time."

Bruce was spun around abruptly and he found himself facing a blank television screen, his captor still keeping himself out of Bruce's eye line. The next second the screen flared into life and the image made the physicist want to gag. Pepper, sweet wonderful Pepper; was chained to a table in nothing but her underwear, her expression steely but Bruce could see the fear in those blue eyes and that angered him.

"As you can see Miss Potts is enjoying our hospitality but I can assure you that my companions won't stay _hospitable_ for long..." He paused to let that sink in "..I want the SHIELD access codes you were given as well as access to Stark's mainframe."

Bruce wants to tell him to go fuck himself but at that particular moment in time is probably not the best idea. If it were just him stuck in the situation then maybe he'd be able to wait it out but they had Pepper and he was not going to allow her to be hurt on his behalf. He's so lost in his thought that he doesn't see the fist coming and nearly bites through his tongue.

"I'm sorry Doctor am I boring you? Then perhaps you need some entertainment. "

The man reaches for a walkie-talkie pinned to the front of his shirt and mutters something in a language Bruce doesn't understand, no small feat considering how much of world he's travelled. On the screen a large man walks into view and Bruce sees Pepper freeze, he walks over to her and runs a large stubby finger along her exposed skin and dips in under the thin fabric of her panties. She lets out a small squeak of horror and tries to shift away but the restraints hold her in place. Back in the room with Bruce the man smiles slowly, like a cat who had just gotten a bowl of unlimited cream and holds up the walkie-talkie once more.

"You know what to do."

On the screen the ogre of a man grins evilly before reaching to grab the scant clothing covering the woman and literally tearing them off. From his viewpoint Bruce can already see the tears streaming down his friends cheeks and something inside of him _snaps_, something dark and primal and far, far more dangerous than the Hulk.

They are dead men.

This isn't a threat, this is a promise; a solemn unbreakable vow.

"Now Miss Potts... " The man is speaking to Pepper through the walkie-talkie "... I have given Doctor Banner here the options and anything that happens to you from this point forward would down to him. So perhaps you could get him to cooperate."

Pepper looks up at the screen shame and horror pressed into her features and tells their captors to go fuck themselves and that he shouldn't tell them a goddamn thing. It earns her a hard slap across the face and she bears it with all the dignity of a warrior queen, Bruce growls under his breath his mind turning through all the ways he was going to make these bastards pay. The man strides forward in front of Bruce's face and punches him across the jaw again.

"So do we have an understanding Doctor."

The physicist blinked the spots out of his eyes and glared at his captor shifting himself on the chair, testing the stress points and calculating the force necessary to break it.

Then he smiled.

Slow and dangerous and fucking crazy because these assholes had no idea the forces they were messing with because like ninety nine point nine percent of the world they thought that Hulk was the one to be afraid of. They thought that Banner was weak and breakable, _puny_ but they were wrong, so very very wrong. He is suddenly reminded of something Tony said many moon's ago on that fucked up mission where they all met, that the Hulk had been created to protect him from the bad things in the world. Except Tony had it backwards Hulk wasn't there to protect him from the world; he was there to protect the world from him. Because Hulk knew what Puny Banner was actually capable of, had seen the pain and fury buried deep inside and had made himself the world's shield against that unstoppable force and the madness that followed close on it's heels. Bruce knew that he was at least a little crazy but he knew that he would be far more unstable without the Hulk to unleash some of his crazy from time to time.

He hated to admit it but he needed Hulk.

And now these sons of bitches were going to find out _why_.

"Doctor Banner!" The man snapped and once again turned around to strike Bruce.

Time seemed to slow as the fist careened toward him and the physicist counted the milliseconds down faster than anyone could even blink. At the last possible second he shifted the weight from the chair to his feet, standing awkwardly and twisting his body just enough so that the man's fist collided with the hard wood of the chair. The man jumped back crying in pain and Bruce seized his chance he turned his back to the man and charged backwards into him chair first, slamming both of them into the wall. There was a crunch that Bruce suspected was one or more of his fingers breaking but he really didn't care at this point. Behind him the man was winded badly and curled over on himself and the physicist took the moment to back away slightly and then once again slam the chair backwards right into the man's skull. The crunch this time was slightly wet and Bruce felt the drip, drip of blood over his fingers as splinters from the now broken chair pressed into his palm.

Without hesitating he spun around and took no small amount of glee in the state of the other man. His head was bleeding profusely and he was nothing but a limp rag propped up against the wall. Using some athleticism he hadn't been aware he possessed Bruce managed to get his arms in front of him and was able to fish the keys to his cuffs from his captors jacket as well as snatching his walkie-talkie. Now free from all his restraints the physicist turned his attention to the prone man on the floor. With a sadistic smile he grabbed another chair from across the room and placed it back first across the man pinning him in place. Then he grabbed two glasses of water from the water cooler at the back of the room and sat on the chair, pouring the first of the two glasses over the man's head.

Bruce tried to ignore the burn of satisfaction as the man started and then let out a low hiss of pain.

"Now where were we?" Bruce said casually.

The man struggled but couldn't dislodge the chair enough to gain any real momentum.

"I won't tell you anything." He spat.

Bruce laughed, loud and free and with a glee no one would have believed the usually serious man capable of, it was more than a little disconcerting to his captive.

"I sincerely hope so otherwise this will hardly be worth my time, I'm not one for the easy option. I like things to be challenging."

The man stared at him wide eyed, dark almost black blood dripping down the side of his face.

"B-but you're an Avenger, one of the good guys."

Bruce smiled, that serene, insane smile of his.

"Hulk is the Avenger, I'm... well I'm a _special_ case."

As if to emphasize his point he stomped down hard on the man's hand, revelling in the sound of bones breaking into dust and the screams of pain.

"Now, you hurt someone important to me and well, after the day I've had I'm not feeling particularly charitable and stopping me from calling on the Hulk was a big mistake because now you have to deal with me and I'm far, far nastier than the Hulk will ever be."

This time Bruce stomps on both hands and the man whimpers a little as tears stream down his cheeks. He continues for a few more minutes until both appendages are mangled beyond recognition and the man is practically a blubbering mess on the floor, pleading for Bruce to stop, _please_ and that he'll tell him anything he wants to know. But Bruce had told him before this wasn't about information, this was about people thinking they could hurt what was _his_.

The man watches him wide eyed with fear as he cuts the palm of his hand and let's thick rivulets of his blood spill into the second cup of water swirling it gently until it's a light red in colour and Bruce smiles that perversely serene smile once more.

"I'm sure you know my blood is toxic but y'know I've never actually seen the effects before just heard about them. Now what kind of scientist does that make me?"

The question is rhetorical both men know it but it doesn't stop the squeak of fear erupting from the man throat as he eyes the glass in the physicist's hand with the utmost horror. Watches as the man above him casually tilts his wrist and the red coloured liquid flows from the glass right onto his open wound and his world explodes into untold agony.

Bruce watches calmly as the man beneath him thrashes in pain screaming for all he's worth. He can see the poison spreading through the man's bloodstream, the faint glow of gamma green indicating it's presence and burning the captive man from the inside out. He doesn't feel any emotion as he watches flesh bubble and melt away slightly, is more than disinterested as the man's screams cease as he chokes on his own foamy bile. Just for good measure though Bruce unholsters the man's firearm and fires one right between the eyes spraying him with what remained of the guys brain after it had been subjected to his radioactive blood.

He doesn't bother wiping it away, he has more important things to do.

Pepper hears the gunshots down the corridor and feels her heart in her throat. She knows that it couldn't possibly be the cavalry they hadn't been missing nearly enough time for it to have been noticed and that meant that she'd have to endure for a while longer. She'd had the training to deal with this but putting it into actual practice was an entirely different world and she hated herself for not fighting more.

The brute that was her keeper was leering at her again, hands wandering and touching places he had no right to touch and the rest, well she'd managed to blank that out so far.

Fuck, she was going to need a hell of a lot of therapy after this.

The knock at the door drew her back to reality and she blinked blearily as her captor lumbered over and cautiously opened it. There was a brief second where the man stood still and silent then there was the sizzling sound of electricity and he fell over backwards revealing...

"...Bruce?" The word was nothing more than a whisper.

The man in the doorway certainly looked like the kindly scientist she'd come to know well over the past year or so even if he was covered in what appeared to be an alarming amount of blood and brandishing a gun and what appeared to be a makeshift tazer. But there was something there under the surprisingly gentle smile; a stark contrast to the gore, that sent shivers down her spine. Bruce stepped forward over the unconscious man and into the room, moving slowly to Pepper's side as if trying not to startle her.

"You're hurt." He said his tone gentle despite his fearsome appearance.

Pepper doesn't answer, not trusting her voice at this point. His eyes flick over her body categorizing her injuries like any good professional, then slide to the man behind him and suddenly that darkness is shrouding them again and Pepper finds it hard to breath.

"He _hurt_ you."

She understands exactly what Bruce means when he says hurt, _violated_ and she closes her eyes as tears prick them giving the man his answer. There is a brief moment where she fears the man will lash out at those around him but Pepper dismisses it in less than a heartbeat. Even at his worse Bruce has never hurt her or Tony or anyone else he considers friend and she doesn't expect him to start now but the way he's looking at the unconscious man is giving her unsettling ideas.

The physicist unhooks her from her restraints and quickly finds a hospital gown and a standard issue scratchy blanket which he drapes around her shoulders. Pepper is immensely grateful for it and she relaxes against him as he leads her to the rooms door. As they reach the doorway Bruce pauses and loosens his grip arm falling to his side leaving a bloody stain on the blanket.

"Go ahead Pepper, the way is clear. I'll be along soon after I finish up some business." Dark, furious eyes land on the downed man in the doorway.

The woman stops dead and glares at him even as weak and broken as she is.

"Why?"

The question catches Bruce by surprise and he licks his lips nervously, Pepper had always been incredibly good at reading him and wading through the bullshit. He suspects that she knows what his intentions are and that is not something he's comfortable with, she's too good, too pure to understand it but he owes her too much to lie to her.

"Do you want the truth?"

Pepper nods.

"Because I don't want you to see the monster I am."

She smiles softly and cups his cheek. "We're all monsters Bruce it's how we survive."

"Not like this..."

"Just like this Bruce because I know you'll never be that monster to me, only for me. Want to know why?"

Bruce licks his lips again.

"Why?"

"Because I will end you before you have the chance."

Those words should frighten him but they don't. Instead he looks into her eyes and sees the crazed howling thing staring right back at him, _just like him_. They are both monsters in their own way and he isn't the only one willing to loose his to protect those dear to them and rip apart anyone who tries try to hurt them.

And Pepper has been seriously wronged this day.

The two don't speak anymore and Bruce concentrates on his work while Pepper watches with the darkest, deepest fury in her eyes.

Watches as Bruce gouges out the man's eyes for looking at her wrongly.

Watches as he cuts of the man's hands, slowly, painfully with metal wire for touching her without permission.

Watches as Bruce castrates the guy for doing _that_ to her.

She sits and watches one of most kindest men she has ever met draw out every second of the scumbags agony all in her name; all because he had dared wrong someone Bruce Banner considered _his_.

And she enjoyed every, single, second of it. Relished every scream and wince and watched gleefully as the man slowly bled to death pleading for his pathetic life.

After it was all over Bruce stood silently still caked head to toe in gore and smiled at her; that deceptive gentle smile and Pepper smiled back truly seeing the man for the first time, the monster in her corner and started to laugh light and airy and genuine. Before long Bruce joined her and they both kept laughing long after they had left the building.

That was how the Avengers had found them hours later, the smoking ashes of the building they'd been held captive in behind them. Tony had instantly ran to Pepper, his eyes wide with worry and concern and pulled her into a tight hug. The woman hadn't protested even if she had flinched a little at the initial contact. The rest of the team hadn't been far behind even if they hadn't exactly been needed.

Captain Rogers casts a worried glance at Bruce and the sheer amount of gore he's covered in but Bruce shrugs demurely and no one pushes further; they all know better than that.

Pepper kisses Bruce's cheek and thanks his for saving her and the physicist mumbles shyly under his breath that it was no problem; everything is as it should be.

Except it isn't.

There is something deeper in the looks they share, it's nothing remotely sexual (because Tony knows sexual and it certainly doesn't look anything like that.) and no one but Natasha seems to understand it and she certainly isn't sharing. But it's tangible like a living breathing thing but as heavy and dark as the deepest part ocean at the same time. They never speak about it, just content to let it lie between them like a vast gaping void both knowing that it would do no good to bring it into the light.

To show the world what they truly were beneath the surface.

_Monsters_.

~The End~

A/N: So that happened... Uh sorry the ending petered out a bit I was working on about 6 hours of sleep out of about 56... so not a lot. So please don't kill me for the awfulness.


End file.
